Reopening the Cold Case

You know what's really terrifying? that unfinished college degree lurking in the background, just sitting there waiting for you That's where Southern New Hampshire University comes in. With flexible online degree programs, there's no commuting, no rigid schedule, and no more excuses. Plus, they have some of the lowest online tuition rates in the US Visit snhu d. edu slash morbid to learn more before your degree becomes just another story about what could have been Every good detective needs a partner to support them on important cases. Think of a state A arm agent like your sidekick there to help you along the way in your search for coverage State Farm can help you choose the coverage you need, whether it's for your home, car, boat, or even RV With so many options, it's nice knowing you have help finding what fits for you so you can get back to solving all of life's bigger cases. Go to statefarm d. com or use the award winning app to connect with a local agent and get a quote. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there Allergy season does not slow down when you are on the move. That's why KleeneX ultr soft tissues are ready whenever sneezes strike KleenEX Ultra soft tissues are allergist approved and silky soft for up to one hundred percent irritation free skin. And now with new KleeneX Snap and Go, you get that same gentle care made for life on the go. Get the Kleenex UltraSoft tissues you love in a new compact, durable package. New KleenEex Snap and Go snap shut for a clean tissue anytime anywhere. For whatever happens next, grab Kleenex Snap and Go. Hey Weirdos. I'm Eelena. I'm Ash and this is Morbid more of a bidito. It certainly is. I channeled Caleb on that one. I did. I felt it. Yeah. I miss Caleb. I do too. I need Caleb to come here. Caleb, we miss the Caleb. We do And also, this is a case that I wonder if it's like people of a certain age are going to see this case and be like, oh, I remember that. And then people of a lesser age are going to say what I know I know I've heard of this case. Yeah and I think we've discussed it like together before. Yeah, but never on the pod. Never on the pod. Never on the microphone on the ones on the tombs. pretty it's a crazy case. Yeah You know what I'm just gonna let you tell it. I'm not even gonna to ask things yet. It's a wild one. It's got a lot of skin doll involved in it. Skundle. a lot of very wealthy people. Oh, you know I love a wealthy story. There's a lot of cover up rumors hate happening here lotots all that kind of stuff and a lot of scandalous and and the murder itself is absolutely horrific. I mean, it's a horrific story I mean, Martha's young. She's like she was an amazing Gal Oh, and this is a truly horrific story But before we get into the whole thing, Yes, we just wanted to say something really quick because I think some people were having trouble with playback of a couple of episodes on Apple podcasts. it was doing like a buffer thing where it would like start you over. Yeah randomly. In the middle of the episode I think. Yeah, it's not we can't really fix anything on our end because it's not like a broken thing in the episode. It's more you might need to update your app because sometimes that can happen if you don't update it. it just It's like the iPhone if you don't just start shitting itself. So I think the app does that as well. Yeah. So give that a shot if you're having problems with that I'll see if it fixes it. I thought that I had all of my apps on automatic update. like I thought I did that when I set my phone and you might think that too You might not because I don't But see if it works. I think that might help. If it doesn't help, let us know we'll go further. try to shoot some mo. I think that should be it U But yeah, I think if you want to come to our live show in New York City, it's twenty seventh. Radio City music hall. There's still some tickets left. go grab them. We're literally so excited. They' like things are moving and shakaking. Yeah we got some ome fun things. Oh my God we have a fun guest. It's just it's all gonna be fun. Yeah we just bought some some dressings, Oh and we figuure, o, I can't even tell you Yeah, we can. There's one thing in particular and it's honestly like a pretty small thing in the grand scheme of things that I am so fucking excited for. I know exactly what you're talking about and I too am excited for it So yeah, go get your tickets while you can It's going to be a fun time Period. So I think that's all we have for business. So look at that The minute the minute mark is low this time Better get going and don't lie about it. Listen listen Paul Listen George. Listen George, Paul. Yeah. What's Matthew? Y Oh that that That was an apppple podcast. that was asstut updating. so just for a second. I was looking out the window and trying to talk. and I was like, that's hard. No, no, no. I was also itching my chest. those three things and I was trying to remember the name of a book too. happen And of course I had to breathe as well. so there was o man., that always trips me from its crazy what was gonna say isn't even gonna be funny. For some reason when I said Georgia, I just thought of Mice said men. Be. Tap it up. What just happened? I'm not really sure. I gotta go All right, here we are. Let's talk about so for I'm going to give you a quick m of what's going to happen here. So you know what you're getting into this is a t pada This's a Tupada. So And if you're someone who's like, what is this? like I've never heard of this. This will be your summary. If you're someone who thinks you remember this name and your' a little confirmation. hereere's your confirmation. What's interesting about this is Martha Moxley's murder was the first murder case that the detectives in the Greenwich Connecticut Police Department had ever seen. Oh w. And when I say one of the first, I mean You could count on a hand in the history of the apartment. How many murder cases there were? That's insane. Yeah Because of that, I mean, it almost immediately, it drew a lot of criticism, the investigation The public was kind of perceiving it as sloppy police work. The public was thinking there was like a real failure to make any progress in this case. and further complicating the matters was the fact that Those that were closest to the case, like the kids who were with Martha Moxley the night she was murdered, they came from some of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the nation. Wow. Yeah, notot just in Connecticut. in nation. Also Greenwich is like a very gorgeous area. Yes, it is In fact, for decades, the power, the influence, all that kind of stuff, like the shadiness that comes along with all that that we all see come along with that even now.. It kind of stonewalled the investigators at every turn. and for decades, this prevented Martha Moxley's killer from being held accountable. That's so. becausecauseuse that's the thing. It's like In these cases where these rich families don't want to be a part of it and they want to keep things hush hush and yada, yada, it's Okay, but a woman lost her life and like a young girl. it's like you can still love your child. and admit that they did something wrong. Yeah, exxactly. It's like, you know, there's a There's This parents who go too far the other way and say, well I'm just not going to cooperate because I'm not going to it's like, okay, but Somebody else's child was killed. So you do have to look at it like, you can still love your kid. Right. You can still think their sunshine glows out of their ass. probably doesn't. You have to admit that they did something wrong when they did something wrong and have them face the consequences No, Martha Moxley was born august sixteenth, nineteen sixty in San Francisco, California She was the second of two children born to Dorothy and David Moxley. Oh Dorothy and David. Dorothy's such a cute name. Dorothy was a teacher. David was an accountant She had a brother John and in Piedmont, California for most of her life, she was just kind of the quintessential American kid. Yeah. She was outgoing, she was athletic, she was a good student. like she had it all going for her Dorothy said Martha was always a very good child, very easy to handle.. Although she never had any trouble making friends, according to John, Martha often kind of just liked spending time with her family or sketching in her notebook. She was like pretty low key.. But everyone liked her Her brother John said Martha was a person who had everything in the world going for her. She was friendly, she was athletic, she was talented in the arts. Everything seemed to come very easy to Martha She was very easy to get along with, upbeat friendly, the kind of kid you'd like to be around. No that's But mostly be m? Yeah. Although the Moxleies had never struggled financially, they did pretty well. they weren't exactly Like what would be considered like a wealthy family at that time, especially by southern California standards. Yeah, Southern Californiaal, you know But that all changed in the summer of nineteen seventy four when David Moxley accepted a very high profile job. It was a job as a managing partner with a global accounting firm But this required them to move three thousand miles to the other side of the country. Yes. So you know, David needed to be close to the New York headquarters. Like many who worked in New York's finance industry at the time. They chose not to settle in the city itself, but instead to move to one of the suburbs that they could like take a train in. Yeah. they chose Greenwich, Connecticut Now in his nineteen ninety seven profile of the Moxley case for the Hartford Current Journalist Joe Lang described Greenwich as, quote, the Connecticut suburb of choice for Manhattan executives. Most, if not all of them lived in the very exclusive waterfront neighborhood of Bellhaven Well all of Greenwich would definitely be considered a wealthy suburb. evenven still.. Beelhaven existed Basically has its own world. It was like a town apart. That's crazy. It was a gated community. It had its own auxiliary police department, private roads, its own yacht club on the Long Island sound. Its like it's like Stepford. It literally is. Yeah. It feels like, don't worry, Darlie. Yes. L it feels like it's like its own thing Now among those who called Beelhaven home was the presresident of Schweps, USA. The other gingerle. I was gonna say that literally I'm I'm not trying to come for Big gingerle, but I apologize to Big gingerle, but we're a kid my family has always been gingerle of choice. If Drew is a gingerle I was gonnaid gingerail al call. a gingerle a holic. He's a gingerill a holic. Yeah. actually hidees stringeril at our house. Good for him 'cause he doesn't want it all gone. good for him. But if if Schweb enters our household Oh that growing up, my mom, Y ma, Yp, is a gingerraail girl. Yeah. And she and we were that family, you got sick. She would stir those bubbles out. She would give you that flat assed gingerll and it would soothe your word. To this day when when I'm sick, I asked you to stir the bubbles out my ginger. My kids. just recently discovered the joys of a flat gingerl on an upset stomach. Nothing like it. And I remort I gave it to my oldest for the first time I'm like stirring the bubbles out. she was like, That's soda because they don't drink soda. and you're like, Yeahah, and I just haven't let them yet. Yeah. This is a This is an emergency on we must give her some f. She was like, that's soda. Like I get soda when I'm sick and I was like, girl, hell yeah. you don't even know She took that first stip and it was like I don't know if anybody's seen the Bluey episode when she like takes the first lick of ice cream after she's earned it Is that what she says? This changes everything. It literally changes everything.. Like she goes floating through like clouds and shit. That was what she did So we gingerll. We love Canada dry here. There's place for Schwep somewhere else. it's just not here. It's a Connecticut. It's in the Connecticut So yeah, the president of Swab the president of B Jeneril. Also the president of the National Dairy Corporation. Oh which seems pretty big. It does because it you know, dairy National Dairy cororporation. I didn't even know that was a thing. Also the CEO of Pepsi Pepsico, Are we gonna get into this again? Weerere a coke. Are we gonna get into this again? Lving soda,mhing soda You know what goes you knowcarbination. We have to be honest here. You went through a fucking phase with your hands where you guys were a strictly Pepsi home. And I remember being like, Okay. We had a moment. You did. It was like a few years, I would say. Yeah. L your first apartment Pepi, Pepsi, Pepsi.'s what you in your first aartment? No, you figured it out You know, I guess so. That's make the mistakes and then you move on. Mike he's looking at me like he is you learn something absolutely horrifying about me. Yeah It was you move into your first apartment. We weren't even married yet. Yeah. We didn't figure it out We figured it out. You guys loved Pepsi, yeah Yeah But then Well, now you're like a doctor Pepper girly and Coke. We're a Coke family. A Cola. Yeah. Just to make that clear, we're a Coca Cola family. Goddamn. We're C Colaax family, okay? We're not Pablo Escobar. We are mister Carisma. You don't need to say hello to my little friend But Yeah, we are reckless We're Canada dryware Coca Cola And we like dairy. And a lot of us are lactos. Well I was gonna say here's the thing. We're big fans of big dairy in fact, but we're also into big lactade Big enzyme. Big enzyme. We love big enzyme. Lord but there was also a lot of actors, musicians, filmmakers that live there. It was crazy In that summer, the Moxleys settled into what they considered a fixer upper, but I'm surprised they even existed there. Well, a fixer upper by Greenwich standards was a Large, just stunning old colonial house I love a colonial Yeah Now for any teenager having to give up their friends and their lives, move completely, like just ask Max Denison from the Hcus fooccus. It sucks. That's a tough move. It is. It can be kind of like a a quasi traumatic experience, I would say, that's a lot of change But Mara She took it all in striide. She reveled in it. She notothing bothered her. like she was just an easy going gal. And sounded Awesome. Hell yeah. That first year at Western junior highigh, she adjusted very quickly. She wasted no time building a brand new social circle. She was got it. I'll just make new friends One teacher wrote on her report card that year, when Martha came in the room, it was like the sun coming up in the morning That's actually crazy because I was just thinking to myself, you said her birthday was august sixteenth? Yes. That makes her a Leo. So she's ruled by the sun Oh, Isn't that fancy That's interesting. Yeah. I'm just making sure. imagine We've all seen a pleasure to have in class. Oh yeah. I never said no teacher ever said to me you are the son to say that when she comes in the room, it's like the sun coming up in the morning. That's why I would be like done it. Absolutely. Like Dorothy should feel like I did it like that and Dorothy and David should feel like We've done it. Absolutely. Like that's a high compliment for a teacher to feel that way. How do you get better than that? Yeah, that's real that's big After just nine months, Martha had surrounded herself with a huge group of friends. She was voted the most popular girl in school. Wow, imagine that's still being arand new I know can you imagine? That's wild. And one of her closest friends, Christy Callen, said Martha was just incredibly fun. Oh. In the summer of nineteen seventy four, she actually started dating a boy named Peter Zelua. They had like pretty teenager relationship in her diary entries that were later discovered. She kind of describes their relationship as like a little stormy. Okay. Nothing Cate like there's nothing damning or like wild in there. I mean you're fifteen. She would just frequently talk about his dark moods and that she was frustrated with him, like pretty typical stuff He was never looked at as a prime suspect for what came later.. But he obviously was spoken to, he had an alibi And he was clear and it checked out. Okay. Unfortunately, I believe He passed away in twenty eleven. Oh, wow. ye. The summer after completing the eighth grade, Martha spent much of her time at the Beelhaven Club, swimming, playing tennis, laying by the pool It sounds like like you can picture like a my see it. Yeah. Yeah. It was there that she met a new set of friends, the people who lived in Beelhaven and attended elite private schools. The ones that she wanted to go to school. Among that group was Tommy and Michael Skakel If you know this case might sound familiar. They were two children of Rushon Skakel, the wealthiest man in Greenwich. Imagine being known as the wealthiest man in Greenwich. Rushon You have to H name his first name is Rushton or Rushton Skakel. Rushton. I've never heard that name. That's the father. so said to Rushton, right? Rushton Skakel's fortune came from Great Lakes Coal, a company founded by his father that recycled waste products from mining operations, but It wasn't just the money that made Sakel so influential, influential, that's hard to say In addition to his wealth, Skakel's sister, Ethel was married to Robert F. Kennedy Oh, B. y'all know Aaffles Oh So he yeah. so he had direct I know I know where we are He had direct access to one of the most famous families and infamous families in America. To this day. If not the world, honestly, yeah U And so Dorothy Moxley later recalled as soon as you moved into Greenwich, they'd tell you that's where the Skakels live and that they were related to the Kennedys, whichich obviously that's a big deal. of course. Now despite his economic success, the Sakel family, like the Kennedys had more than their fair share of experience with tragedy In nineteen fifty five, Rushton and Ethel's parents were killed in a private plane crash. Ohow. A few years later, their brother George junior was also killed in a plane crash. Jesus. Not long after, his wife choked to death during a dinner party. Oh my Godd. Isn't that horrific? Yes. In nineteen sixty two, when he was four years old, Tommy Skakel was thrown from a car during a crash and suffered severe head injuries. Wow And finally, in nineteen seventy three, Rushian's wife Anne died after a particularly agonizing battle with cancer. Oh Anne's death not only left Rushton a widower a lot earlier than anyone would expect. but it also made him the sole provider for his seven children. Holy shit. sixix boys and one girl Now the S boys, yeah, the Skakeo boys had always had a bit of a reputation for being an entitled and often unruly bunch of kids. But for at least a few of them, their behavior got significantly worse when their mother died. I mean, that makes sense. Yeah, trauma Sometimes I get in this like little rut, I guess it's a comfortable rut where I just make the same thing over and over. and you know, that's fine, it's comforting, but I do get to a point where I just crave something new, something exciting in the kitchen With how the fresh savoring new flavors from around the world isn't just delicious, it's simple and it's wholesome Craving shouldn't wait for takeout. G international ingredients sent straight to you so dinner is always the destination Hello Fresh makes cooking effortless so that you can always look forward to a homemade meal because nothing hits like home cooking The other day I was craving some Mediterranean food and it was perfect timing because HelloFresh had Greek chicken and feta grain bowls on the menu and I said, sererve it up to me sister So I got that in my delivery order and it was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my life, the Feta The tomatoes, the onions, everything was just so juicy and fresh and delicious. And it was super duper easy to make. mininimal cleanup, which is one of my favorite things when I'm cooking. It was just super, super convenient. I love knowing that in like the middle of the day, when I'm like, oh my go, what am I gonna cook when I get home? I actually have something ready prepared from HelloFresh in the fridge You will feel that same way. Go to hellofresh dot com slash morbid ten FM now to get ten free meals plus a free breakfast for life One per box with active subscription, free meals applied as a discount on first box, new subscribers only varies by plan. That's hellofresh dot com slash ororbid ten FM to get ten free meals plus free breakfast for life Summer is the perfect time to rethink what clothes you're reaching for every day. With the warmer weather, you want lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that just feel good the moment that you put them on and also look effortless. That's where Quintince comes in. You guys, I love intince They focus on high quality essentials, think breathable linen, soft organic cotton, washable silk, but without the luxury markup, it looks like luxury. It feels like luxury, but you don't get that markup It's that rare balance where everything feels elevated but still easy. And it's not just clothing. Quintince has really become a destination for elevated essentials across home, kitchen, bedding, and beyond. I actually was getting ready for the spring recently so I said quQint. com please And I got a couple of their linen skirts. They are, first of all, so freaking comfortable. They come in the cutest colors. My favorite one that I got is in this yellow color. just makes me feel like sunshine when I get all dressed. And you know that I love the silk skirts. Those are a staple in my wardrobe every single time of the year between summer, fall, winter, spring, all of the above Elevate your summer wardrobe, goo to quQins dot com slash morbid for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty five day returns. now available in Canada too That's QuNcE dot com slash morbid for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Quintinces dot com slash morbid Chilling crime cases are mysterious, but finding covered shouldn't be With the state Farm persononal price plan, you have options and can personalize your plan to help create an affordable price. So you can get back to cracking all of life's bigger cases Talk to a state Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, state Farm is there. Head to statefarm dot com to get a quote. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state, coverage options are selected by the customer, availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state Michael, in particular, seemed to take his mother's death harder than the others and started acting out in very obvious ways. while also apparently developing a pretty significant drinking problem. Oh In the summer of nineteen seventy four before starting high school, Martha began socializing with a group of friends at the country club that occasionally did include Tommy and Michael Skakel. Okay. Although they weren't very close as friends go, Martha wrote in a letter to her friend that summer that Tommy quote had hit on her and she wasn't interested. for her. Good for her And year after Martha's death, her mother actually discovered her diary which is where they got a lot of information about what was going on in her life.. And it included a few mentions of the Skcaakeo Bothers. Oh. Now in a passage from september twelfth, nineteen seventy five, which is On about a month before she was killed. Yeah Martha talked about a random evening that she had spent with Tommy and Michael Skakel This is what she wrote. She wrote Dear Diary. Today was nothing extra special at school. Peter was being his usual self. Me, Jackie, T Michael, Tom, Hope, Maureen andnt Andra, who were driving in Tom's car I drove a little and then I was practically sitting on Tom's lap because I was only steering and he kept putting his hand on my knee I drove some more and Margie and I kept yelling out the sunroof and then we went to friendlies's, which immediately was like, And Michael treated me and got me a double, but I only wanted a single, so I threw the top scoop out the window Then I was driving again and Tom put his arm around me. He kept doing stuff like that. Jesus, if Peter ever found out I would be dead I think Jackie really likes Michael, and I think maybe he likes her, mayaybe because he was drunk. I don't know. Okay So that was on september twelfth, september fifteenth. She talked again about hanging out with them and saying that She doesn't think that or that Michael told her he doesn't like Jackie, but he leads her on, but she thinks he leads her on. So it's like very teenager. super like an summer of seventy five. I'm fifteen. Yeah. And a few days later, she journaled and said, Michael, meaning Michael Skakeo was so totally out of it that he was being a real asshole in his actions and words. He kept telling me that I was leading Tom on when I don't like him, except as a friend. I said, Well, how about you and Jackie? You keep telling me you don't like her and you're all over He doesn't understand that he can be nice to her without hanging all over her Michael jumps to conclusions. I can't be friends with Tom, just because I talk to him, it doesn't mean I like him. I really have to stop going over there Oh my go. That's just like kind very chilling Yeah and It's because it's just at the very least here what we're seeing is like she was just annoyed Yeah, by Michael kind of like tell it like accusing her of leading Tommy on and Tommy being a little too She wasn't having good time was Yeah, she wasn't having a good time. She seemed like she wanted to move on from a min. Yeah I know Now, although she had always been a really good girl, a really easy kid and generally got along very well with her parents, Martha wasn't, you know She wasn't a robot. Yeah. she's a teenage girl. She was a teenage girl in a very wealthy suburb with a lot of stuff at her disposal disposal Her brother John said she had a wilder side as well, occasionally missing her curfew, drinking a beer or smoking in mid October, it was that wilder side of her personality that had landed her in a little trouble with her parents who grounded her for some teage infraction, notothing crazy. Okay. Nobody even remembers what the infraction was. It was that so obviously little. But when Martha's countountry cllub friends came calling on for her on the night of october thirtieth, which is a lot of times dubbed mischief night. Dorothy Moxley took pity on her daughter and allowed her to go out with her friends for a little while as long as she was back at a reasonable hour. Okay. I think because Martha was such a good kid She's like she was like, you learned your lesson. Yeah. Like I'm too worried about you doing a lot more After leaving the Moxley house that night, Martha and her friend, Helen Xfix Fitzpatrick met up with two other friends, Jackie Wentenhall and Jeffrey Byrne And the two walked over to the Sakel house When they were there, they all just kind of piled into Tommy's Maroon Lincoln, which the Skakel Bys referred to as the Lust Mobile. L grow the E. I don't like it And they sat parked in the driveway Within a few minutes, Tommy, who had been drinking that night, started rubbing Martha's leg without her permission To which she responded by pushing his hand away repeatedly, because she was after a certain amount of times, boom. Yeah Now a little before nine thirty PM, Tommy and Michael's brothers, Rush Jror and John came out of the house with their cousin, Jimmy Tyrion And they announced that they were going to Jimmy's house, the cousin for the rest of the night. Okay So Michael was kind of feeling like the Michael Skakel was feeling like the fifth wheel. so he got out of the car and decided to go along with them instead of staying with Martha and her friends. So now it's just is it just Martha and Helen and Tommy And then Jeff I think so, yeah. Okay And Jackie And Jackie. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So later when they gave their statements to police, Jeff and Helen said they remembered seeing Martha and Tommy play fighting in the Skakeles driveway, not long after the other group had left Okay. The report says Martha was pushing Thomas and Thomas pushing Martha Was that playful? At one point, Thomas pushed Martha down and either fell or got down on her I'm here to tell you that that doesn't sound like play fighting. That sounds like he was trying to attack her. Yeah. that's just what it sounds like in that report. Y? Eventually, when Tommy and Martha began kissing Jeff and Helen decided to leave to give them some alone time, and it was the last time they would see Martha alive. But let's all remember that Martha wasn't interested in Tom. So later that night, when Martha still hadn't come home, Dorothy Moxley began calling around to her friends to find out where Martha was rom Helen, she learned that Martha was last seen around nine thirty with Tommy Skakel. So Dorothy called the Skakel house and spoke to Tommy According to Tommy not long after Jeff and Helen walked off, he went inside the house and he went up to his bedroom. The last time he'd seen Martha, she was walking across the lawn in the direction of her own house No completely by herself. Yeah. So Dorothy was concerned. but Martha hadn't given a specific time that she was going to come home. so she tried not to panic Dorothy later said Martha was a very sharp girl. She wasn't stupid about things But when several more hours went by and Martha still hadn't returned home by four AM. Oh man. Dorothy finally called the police to report her missing. Yeah An officer was dispatched to the Moxley house and they ran through the usual questions, you know, about a missing teen, especially in the seventies, you remember Had there been an argument, did Martha usually stay out this late? H she run away before? Had Martha been a younger child, the police would very likely have fanned out to search the neighborhood. But at the time, the common belief among law enforcement was that when a teenager disappeared for a short time, they were probably just blown off steam or run away and they would eventually come home. Yeah. We've seen that that is not true most of the time. you end up wasting a lot of valuable time So after taking a quick look around the outside of the house and finding nothing because what the fuck would they find on a quick cursory search of the house, when she hasn't returned to the house? The officer logged the report and told Dorothy to call back if Martha still hadn't returned home in a few more hours. Then he returned to the station. Okay Now feeling helpless at this point, because what does she do now Right. Dorothy called her husband who was in in Atlanton business and asked him to come home. Okay Then when the sun came up, she decided to go over to the Skakel's house where Mother was last seen. Good for her When Dorothy knocked on the door, Michael Skakel answered and Dorothy remembered that he was quote unquote, disheveled and looked like a mess as though he hadn't got much sleep Now Michael explained that he hadn't seen Martha since he left with his brothers to go to his cousin's house the night before, and he'd gone straight to bed when he got home a little before midnight Okay. L you look real tired. Yeah. Several more hours passed with no word. Then a little after twelve thirty PM, one of the Moxley's neighbors, a girl on her way to school, made a terrifying discovery. Oh God. Lying on the ground beneath a clump of pine trees. two hundred feet from the Moxley's front door. Stop was Martha's body She was lying on her stomach in a pool of blood Her pants and underwear were pulled down around her ankles She had been severely beaten in the head and face A former detective Steve Carroll saidace her head was a bloody mess. She was a blonde, but you could never tell because her hair was matted down with blood, very thick and heavy. Oh my God. Martha was lying in a large pool of blood and near the body, investigators found a Tony Penn six iron golf club Broken into three pieces. Holy shit an iron golf club. Yeah. Based on the limited evidence at the scene, Carol and the other investigators theorize that Martha was first attacked near the Skakel driveway Th after she'd broken free, The killer chased her through the backyard and caught up with her. not far from her own home. Once Martha was on the ground, the assailant struck her in the head and face with the six iron as many as eight or nine times According to the coroners's report, This is very graphic just to warn you The beating was so savage that it tore pieces of Martha's scalp from her skull, leaving it dangling over her face. Oh my go. After the eighth or ninth blow to the head, the shaft of the golf club broke into multiple pieces. at which points the killer took up the broken pieces with the handle and rammed the jagged end of the club into Martha's throat. Oh my God And she's like two hundred feet from her house. Her mom is in the house. And this is happening to her daughter. two hundred away from her. Oh my God, I When I read that That'll stay with me. I didn't even know that detail of this or I didn't remember it at the very least That's unthinkable. That is completely and to think she was running away from somebody and was so close to home, it was a matter of feet Yeah I just like honestly it makes my like it turns my stomach. It really turns my stomach. wild Now although the medical examiner found no concrete evidence of sexual assault, he did note a quote, reddish mark on both her inner thighs, which he stated were consistent with bloody hands trying to push the victim's legs apart. Oh awful. Now for investigators at the scene and those who would later be assigned to the case Martha Moxley was the first murder case any of them had ever seen And it is one of the most brutal things to ever. This is one of the most brutal murders you can think of. And this is their first murder case. That's unthinkable. In the history of the Greenwich Police Department, the number of homicide cases on record could be counted on one hand. Wow They were not experienced in the investigation of homicide, let alone one So brutal and someone's so young. Yeah which would prove seriously consequential for their investigation. No. And but Steve Carroll and his associates took up the case, determined to find out who did this. That afternoon, Chief Thomas Keegan assigned the case to detectives Steve Carroll and James Luny, who would act as co lead investigators At three PM, James Lunney and his partner went to the Skakel house to interview the kids, while Carol and his partner began interviewing the Moxley's neighbors. At the time, Rushon Skagegel was away on business, and the kids tutor, Ken Lydleton, was left in charge According to eighteen year old Julie Skakel, she and several of her brothers had dinner at the Beelhaven Beach Club the previous evening and returned home around nine PM And at that point, Tommy and Michael met up with Martha and her friends in the driveway of the house, while the rest of the kids went inside Michael confirmed his sister's story and added that after hanging out with Martha and her friends for a short time, he got bored and went with his brothers to their cousin's house and didn't come home until after eleven PM. Okay. Later that afternoon, Tommy was asked to come down to the station for an interview. At which time he repeated the story, he'd told Dorothy Moxley, but with some added information now. Tommy claimed he and Martha had been kissing and wrestling on the Skakels front lawn which was corroborated by Jeff and Helen that theyy saw fighting is what they thought it was. Then he went inside around nine thirty PM to work on a homework project about Abraham Lincoln The last time he'd seen Martha, she was walking in the direction of her house. After the interview, Lenny checked with Tommy's teachers and they all denied assigning a homework project about Abraham Lincoln. Interesting. Which is a wildly stupid lie to make up. Yeah because it is so easily Disprove Exactly. Now elsewhere in the neighborhood, Carol and his partner were canvassing the area, looking for anyone who might have seen or heard anything out of the ordinary the night before Although no one saw anything, many of the neighbors closest to the Moxley house recalled hearing the sound of several dogs barking wildly around ten PM. Oh Dorothy Moxley too, remembered hearing the noise and thought someone must have been having an argument. Oh o. Otherwise, the most anyone seemed able to offer investigators was just like suspicion and speculation. Some in Beelhaven told the detectives about like a transient man they described him as, that they'd seen hitchhiking in the area the day that Martha was killed. and thought, surely This man had something to do with the murder. could not be own. No, never. It quickly became apparent to investigators that Tommy Skgel was the last person to see Martha alive that night. They also determined based on the reports of the barking dogs that the time of the death was most likely somewhere around ten PM. o Since Michael Skagel had been at his cousin's house when they believed the murder took place, he was ruled out as Martha's killer, leaving Tommy as the most likely suspect Based on what they learned, Carolyn Lunney theorized that Tommy had wanted to go further than kissing Martha. and when Martha rejected him and began walking home, he chased her down and attacked her. That was the theory. Make sense. The next day, detectives spoke to Rushedton Skagel and explained that they needed to search the area more thoroughly, but they didn't mention that they suspected Tommy Okay. Like everyone else in the neighborhood, Skakel wanted to help find Martha's killer. So he gave his permission for investigators to search his house and continue speaking with his children. He was like, absolutely. Okay. operating on the assumption that Sgel's verbal permission was good enough Carlyn Lunney never bothered to get a search warrant That wasn't smart I will never get over this fact. That wasn't smart. You just said Sounds good to me Yeah, Vveral agreement never enough is admissible. Nope You learned that Before you got that Chiny badge that you show people That's such lears that That's such a basic. That's basic. It might have been day two after orientation. Yeah Oh man. So having secured Rushed in Skakeles' permission, detectives returned to the Skakeles house to follow up with Tommy while additional officers search the house When he was confronted with the lie about the homeomework project, Tommy stuck to his story, insisting that he had gone up to his bedroom to work on the project, which the detectives now knew didn't exist. It's also like, okay, show me the project. Sow me the a linket thing Meanwhile, officers searching the house found a set of Tony Penna golf clubs in the mudroom with several clubs missing They eventually located most of the other clubs on the back deck, but The six iron was nowhere to be found. You gotta be fucking kidding me. And the fact that they found that and it's not admissible. Yeah for reasons that remain unclear It appears that the detectives didn't bother to push back on Tommy's claims that he was working on a project that had literally never been assigned Nor did they take the clubs anythingthing else into evidence Interesting let that settle. They literally found out that he was lying They have ab alibi to back it up to say he doesn't have that project.. They didn't say, Hey, can you show me the project? They found the golf clubs missing want that pattern to be used in the murder weapon. Missing the only one that's used as a murder weapon And they took didid they do to a sakele That's it. Oh my god, dude. Now In retrospect, many of the most critical mistakes in this investigation were definitely made in these early days, which is the worst time to make them. It sure is. Well, most could be chalked up to J just inexperienced and Dufacy detectives, many believe that the real underlying problem was the investigator's Unwillingness to aggressively pursue Tommy Skakegel because of his father's wealth and power. And to me fits the bill. I think so because I'm like, which one do you want to be? Do you want to be a shady fuck who doesn't want to question a wealthy, powerful family Or do you want to be a dumb detective who didn't do the most basic shit in the world? Oh man. takeick one, I guess Pick your poison I was going say they' both pretty shitty. They're both pretty bad. They both don't paint you in a good light. I didn't know all the details of this. Yeah. Steve Carroll said in a two thousand three interview I think it was a case of circumstances. Do we tread lightly? Probably. Out of respect or fear? I don't know But we thought really that we were doing a good job A young girl was murered if you want decided to tread lightly? I don't know if you want to go with that. Probably not. I don't know if you want to say we thought we were doing a good job. didid you? So we're going by not collecting evidence this see one Wow I don't know. In fact, everything seemed to be pointing towards Tommy Skakel, but Carol and Lenny seemed completely unwilling to follow the very obvious evidence that was like breadcrumbing right to him. So the next day, Detective Thomas Keegan gave a statement to the press, though It didn't do a whole lot to answer any questions or like help anyone with their fears He told reporters, We have reason to believe she was assaulted on the property and dragged to the tree. Yep, thanks Unfortunately, when it came to any theories or potential suspects, Keeegan was tight lipped, saying only, we don't have a heck of a lot to go on you actually have You almost everything almost a smoking gun my HVAac guy I found on Angie. com to change my grandpa's trachea tube. I was so amazed at how we replaced our air ducts. I knew I could trust him to change Pop pop's tube. I think we should call a doctor. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find proros for all your home projects at anngie. com At DSW, we ask the important questions, like which shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break in RSVP. So own the moment. You've got big plans and we've got just the shoes at the perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready withith Designer Shoe Warehouse. head to your DSW store or dsW. com today And let us surprise you Looking to scale your outcomes beyond search and social Realize is Tabula's AI powered performance platform, driving incremental growth by engaging high intent users across a global network of six hundred million daily active users on premium websites. Reach and convert your audience on premium websites and placements where your customers actually spend their time. For more information and to create your account today, go to realiz d. com slash podcast Now a few days later, Dputy pololice chief Raymond Grant followed up on Keegan's bigue statement, telling reporters, It's not that we don't have leads, but I don't know when we'll break the case. If I did, I'd tell you the most non sentence sentence I. It just includes absolutely no information. Wow So the silence and very poor communication from investigators would prove to be another problem for local police Not only did it do nothing to make locals feel any safer, but it also suggested that investigators weren't making any progress on the case. And if it felt to the public that detectives weren't making any progress, that's probably because they weren't Probably Now within a few days of the murder, the investigation began to run into several roadblocks many having to do with the social status of the primary suspect. think so. One of Tommy's teachers refused to go on the record refuting the claim about the homework assignment and became generally uncooperative From that point forward, it seemed as though every lead Carolyn Lenny had managed to come up with started falling apart. Within a few weeks, when it became clear detectives were focusing on his son, Rushton Skakel, rescinded his permission to speak to his children and routed everything through the family's lawyer. I'm sure. By then, Tommy had taken two polygraph tests, with the first showing inconclusive results and the second showing no deception. Interesting, which is very interesting. I mean, he had a practice run Within a few months, investigators found themselves in a very difficult position They no longer had access to their suspect and no one seemed willing to speak out against the Sakels But at the same time, the public pressure to find Martha's killer had only grown louder and more demanding In late March, Connecticut state attorney Thomas Brown responded to the growing criticism by publicly accusing the skkakeles of stonewalling detectives and impeding the investigation. Wow braf. According to Brown, the local police were, quote, apparently being frustrated by the refusal of a particular family, which could supply pertinent information to assist or cooperate in the police investigation Although Brown didn't call out the Sakes by name, Thomas Sakegel had been associated with the case in the press from day one So there was little doubt. who he was referring to Also, Brown made it clear in no uncertain terms that the Greenwich pololice were equipped to investigate the case He said, I'm personally satisfied with the manner in which the police investigation has progressed over the months despite the unfortunate refusal of cooperation by the particular family, which has clearly impeded the investigation. Now under the gun to solve the case with or without the Sabableles help at this point Investigators or detectives began casting a much wider net and started looking at anyone who could have any reason or want to harm Martha, which I said Why? You're wasting your fucking time. Like you have everything. including her parents and her brother. You gotta be fucking kidding me. Are they missing golf? Wait, come on. In the end, the larger suspect pool did nothing to help the investigation. and it actually probably did a lot more harm than it did anything else Now, at first, detectives focused their attention on the Skakel Children's tutor Ken Liddleton, who failed his polygraph exam Yeah, because he probably had something that he was hiding. But when he passed his second polygraph, I love how they're like, let's just do it until you pass this. Like why? They determined he knew more than he was saying, but he wasn't Martha's killer. Yeah, whichich seems likely. Yeah. After moving on from Lyleton, investigators shifted their attention to one of the Moxley's neighbors, Edward Hammon According to journalist Leonard Levittt, it was never clear, quote, what had piqued their interest in Hammond Although the police file did state he had blood on his clothing from a household accident Okay Regardless of what got them to spend so much time on Hammond. He was like very cooperative with detectives and provided extensive biological samples. to roll himself out. Yeah. So anybody that's willing to do that, it's yeah He cooperated completely Now with Tommy Skakel being beyond their reach and every other suspect ruled out because they weren't even real suspects to begin with, I feel like, invvestigators went back to the earliest case notes, particularly the neighbor's note about the mysterious and suspicious hitchhikers scene in town. Because you got to that seems like at least a le I mean, you got so much evidence on on the side, but like you might as well chase this one now. Yeah, it's out of the ordinary, you know. Now despite not knowing whether the man even existed or where he could be found, the investigative team would spend an unreasonable amount of time pursuing the hitchhiker lead which would literally come to nothing in the end. Great Nothing. They anybody? If they had like Hey, he was on this corner. And this is where I saw him going. Even that is hard to chase because I was where to go Yeah. anyway. I don't even know what it looks like. Right Now by the end of the nineteen seventies, investigators had exhausted every lead they had and were no closer to actually nailing down Martha's killer. And her poor family is just having to continue living in this community everybody Yeah Now in the meantime, several of the Skakel kids had grown up and moved away, including Michael, who, after being arrested on a charge of drunk driving in late nineteen seventy eight, was sent to the Elon School, a private institution in Maine for troubled teenagers. With so many people having come and gone and so many mistakes having been made in the investigation, it seemed like the case might never be solved. Yeah. Now throughout the first half of the twentieth century, a lot of Americans had a fascination and respect for the last of the nations really like aristicocratic families like the Vanderbilts You know, the Rockefellers, the Asts. Yeah By the later part of the century though, that fascination and respect had like kind of turned into resentment and disdain.. becausecause the social consequences of wealth inequality were becoming more and more apparent around the country Others, meanwhile, took a kind of like perverse pleasure in watching as many in what remained of high society were taken down by scandals or otherwise fell from grace. No It is interesting. It's fascinating. lot of these like wealthy families do end up like just falling apart Because you have to think rarely do you just get there Mhm. rarely Is there a glistening golden path leading to where you get Yeah in those situations? Yeah Somebody got kicked in the teeth along the way. Like you know what I mean? And eventually That person who gets kicked in the teeth is going to come back to bite you with a brand new set of chomers. Exactly. that was very poetic. when you see these like and I'm not saying every like, you know, aristocratic family, of course, I'm not saying that. I'm not generalizing I'm just saying a lot of the times when you see them being absolutely taken down by just like Scandal after scandal, you're like, well It was gonna to bite you. You didn't get there purely. Right. The people who get there with like just The regularit stuff. Yeah usually aren't the ones taken down, but we've so many like, you know, I love these stories. Not these stories, but like just but the like ones with like high society. I love a high society involved. 'cause it isn't it's fascinating. It really is Now in nineteen ninety one, thirty year old William Kennedy Smith, son of Gean Kennedy and Stephven Smith and prominent member of the Kennedy family was accused of violently sexually assaulting a woman he'd met on Florida beach, on a Florida beach in March. The charges and subsequent trial received a lot of media coverage and prompted many journalists to dredge up the family's past scandals and conspiracy theories. Smith would ultimately be acquitted of the charges But that didn't stop the speculation and rumors from continuing long after the case was closed Among them, there was a curious rumor that had circulated about William Kennedy Smith staying at the Sakel house on or around the time of the Moxley murder Interesting. And if he had been at the house on the night of the murder, was it not possible that he could be involved or know something about Martha's death Okay There was no truth Whatsoever that he was staying there to the room. Okay, I was gonna say I was like, I feel like we really had the perfect case to begin with aboutout William Kennedy Smith being at the Sakel House that night. And speculation faded. I was like we've done a completely different path. I wanted to give you a quick did. But for high profile journalist Dominic Dunn, we have talked such a fan It inspired an interest in the case and in the scandalous history of the Kennedys more broadly Dunn had spent a lot of his career writing about the crimes and cover upps committed by the wealthiest people in America. And based on what he learned in his very cursory research, the Martha Moxley murder seemed like exactly the kind of crime he was accustomed to covering. He later said in two thousand three, the fact that there was no search warrant is one of the most outrageous things when they knew that the golf club came from the set of golf clubs that belonged to the late mother in the Skakel household I want you to hold that one down add such a layer golf club that's missing is part of a set that belong to theirir late mother. Yes He said later, Dominic Dunn said later in two thousand three, there had to be intimidation of the police. This was a very, very rich family. Interesting. That's a quote. That's a quote from Dominic Dunn in two thousand three, It's in the show, stay away from us bigig soda. The bigig carbonation, you stay away. G out. Now in the early winter of nineteen ninety one, Dominic Dunn reached out to Dorothy Moxley to express his interest in writing a book about the case He later recalled, she was very hesitant about it. I'm sure. Totally understand. Yeah. But when I told her that I, too, was the parent of a murdered daughter, because story is His daughter, Dominique is Dominique Dun, who we have covered. Yeah It's such a sad story. It is. So he said, when I said that I too was the parent of a murdered daughter, she said, okay. And he knew what it was like to know who killed his daughter and get away to do anything about I'm just to give you a in case you're like, wait, what, you covered what? Yeah Dominic Dunn's daughter Dominique had been steadily building a name for herself in Hollywood when in nineteen eighty two, she was murdered by her ex boyfriend, who only served a few years in prison for her murder It was this fact and the obvious failure on the part of the system, in that case that motivated Dunn's career in true crime and inspired him to dig deeper into the Martha Moxley case. Now, so glad he came Yeah abbsolutely. Now after their first meeting, Dunn and Dorothy Moxley agreed the best approach would be for him to write a fictional account of the case, which would eventually be released in nineteen ninety three as a season in purgatory. Oh, okay. I didn't know that. Yeah. Along with the rumors about William Kennedy Smith, Dominiic Dunn's interest in the case resulted in the state's attorney John Solomon reopening the investigation into Martha's murder which have been labeled inactive in nineteen eighty two